Walking on your own
by ZoeyinMay
Summary: Daryl has always found himself leaning on someone. For the last several years, it's been his older brother. But now that he's gone, will he finally turn to a woman?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:**** Yes, there are some... issues that would seem rather implausible, but try to just enjoy the story and not pick at it too much...please? **

"That vase- That's something Special… `Fess up, You steal that for me from your Grandma Jean's house?"

Alice froze in place. Did… did she hear right? Carefully crawling under a hospital bed, she opened the door that was being blocked. Through the crack in the door, she spied upon a apparent dead man in a bed not even ten feet away. Glancing behind her to make sure no walkers were near, she drew her attention back to the situation. _Should I go in… Should I check this room…?_

She was trying to avoid any and all dead things, but that was beginning to become impossible.

Coughing interrupted her thoughts. Now she was sure that man wasn't dead. She's never heard a Zombie cough.

"Shane?" The man sounded very weak.

Alice slowly opened the door so she wouldn't startle him.

"Shane, you in the John?" He still had not seen her.

She slowly stood, closed the door behind her, and walked over to his bed. He was still hooked up to the dead monitors, and several needles were attached to his forearm. In that moment cold realization hit her.

"Shane isn't here." She answered him. The man slowly looked at her… Confused.

"What do you mean? Are you a nurse?" She had forgotten the scrubs she grabbed to replace her torn ones.

"No. I'm scavenging. I've been laying low until the firepower left… or died." Her words obviously confused him.

He kept the puzzled look on his face as he scanned the room. His eyes fell upon the vase of dead flowers near his bed.

"You've been asleep this whole time, haven't you?" He didn't answer right away, only reaching out to touch one of the faded, wilting flowers.

"Yea… I suppose so." He then turned to the clock above the door.

"What time is it? What…what day- What's going on?"

She pressed her lips together. "This will be difficult to understand, so I'll make it simple. The world has fallen to an apocalypse of sorts. It's dangerous to be stationary, and even more so to be alone. So I advise we stick together and get out of the hospital."

He stared at her. _**Okay, maybe a bit too much too soon**__._ She sighed, _**Wait until he sees a Walker.**_

It didn't take too much to convince him of at least getting out of bed. Before she knew it, he was ripping needles and tubes off.

"Hey, hey, go easy on that. Don't injure yourself."

"Have you see a woman and a child recently? Lori and Carl McGrimes?"

Alice looked back at him with a dull stare. "I haven't seen anyone alive in weeks."

She could tell that was the last thing he wanted to hear. The whites of his eyes grew, and his face turned pasty, if that was any more possible.

"But I've been in here almost the entire time. I'm sure they got away, lots of people moved caravans out of the city." She stammered quickly. He seemed to lighten a bit to that.

She tried to keep him focus, "We need to get out of here. And fast." She led him to his personal closet and dug out some clothes.

After helping him dress, getting him water, and explaining a bit more of the circumstances; they gingerly walked out into the hallway. Papers were thrown about everywhere, bits and pieces of unrecognizable office equipment marred the floor along the lobby wall.

"Name's Rick by the way. Rick McGrimes."

"Alice Jipper" she turned and gave him a smile.

"I'm glad we can work together, I hope everything turns out."

"Me too…" She wasn't as optimistic as he, and that would probably be because she knew what was out there.

She dug through the drawers of a nearby desk, looking for any kind of useful items. Finding a few objects of use, she shoved them into her overstuffed backpack. Rick gasped, and in the silence it sounded like a gunshot.

"What?" She whispered low and fierce.

"Is… ..a-are they dead?" She walked over, and looked out the hallway door window where he was pointing. Sure enough, a half eaten corpse laid on the floor. It's face was missing, only teeth and one eye left. The yellow puss-like material had oozed onto the floor and mixed with the guts that was ripped out of its body.

"Yes. We need to get moving." She couldn't afford Rick going into shock.

She led him to a stairwell, and pressed up against the wall. Flicking on the flashlight she scanned the narrow passage.

"We're going to rush this, okay? No more stopping and looking." He didn't answer and in the darkness behind her, she could only guess he nodded his head.

The rest of the trip was fast and quiet. Once they reached a back exit she scurried along the wall, to the tree line, dragging Rick the entire way. He never said a word, even after running past the hundreds of dead bodies, all from inside the hospital.

They finally reached the destination, an abandoned jeep, with the keys still in it.

"I spied this yesterday when I ventured out here, but there were still too many walkers to get close enough to it. I'm…surprised there aren't any out here now." She warily looked around.

"Walkers?" His drawl didn't hide the fear behind those words.

"Yes. There like… um… mentally unstable people, who will eat you." She fumbled with the right way to explain it.

Alice flung her bag in the back seat and climbed in. Rick followed her steps clumsily.

"Oh please lord, please." She closed her eyes as she turned the key. To her amazement, the car started.

"They.. eat people?" He fidgeted in his seat. "What the hell happened, here?" She didn't answer him, knowing that it would take too long to explain.

Now that the jeep started and they had 3/4 of a tank of gas, she started off on the road that would take them to Atlanta.

"Last I knew, Atlanta was safe, and things will be semi normal there. That's where we're headed."

"No. No, I need to go back to my house. I need to get my wife and son." His voice was edged with hysteria.

She need his help driving to Atlanta, and noticing almost no Walkers around, she made a decision. Pinching the bridge of her nose she answered, "Okay, okay. Fair enough. Which way?"

They reached the white farmhouse, and Rick was out of the jeep before she had time to park it.

"Lori!" Alice waited a minute in the car as she heard him rummage through his house.

"Carl…Carl! LORI!" He was only getting louder.

Just when she was about to walk in and tell him to keep it down, he stopped yelling. She ventured into the house and saw him sink to his knees. She slowly walked up to him.

"…Rick?"

Her only answer was sobs. He cradled his head in his hands and she almost felt the need to comfort him.

Between sobs, he mumbled to himself. "Wake up, wake up…"

Feeling like she invading his privacy she looked away from him. That's when she noticed all the pictures were gone.

"Rick? …Rick, I think she escaped." He glanced up at her, his eyes red rimmed and teary.

"What?" He wiped his face on the back of his hands.

"Your pictures are gone… Do you think she packed and left?" He jumped up at her words, and flew into another room.

"Yes, oh thank God, yes." He came back "Our album is gone. There is still hope."

Alice smiled back at him "There will be even more if we leave. This is dangerous."

"There are bandages in the pack in back. That wound of yours stinks." She was giving him hints earlier, but he either was ignoring it, or was too preoccupied. Now she was being blunt.

"Oh, yea. I guess I'll change it."

The day wore on, and nightfall hit. Alice switched with Rick in driving so she could get some shut eye.

"Are you sure you can drive? I would rather I drive for two days straight than crash because you have vertigo or whatever."

He smiled unenthusiastically. "I'm fine. Confused as hell, but alright." They stopped under a street light and had a bathroom break before switching. The last thing Alice remembers before she fell asleep was Rick explaining they were heading to the sheriff's department to grab guns before they left.

"Alice… Alice." Rick shoved her shoulder, "Wake up."

She rolled over, using the armrest as a support to push herself up into a sitting position.

"Why have we stopped?" She felt the prickle of panic all throughout.

"We're here. At the department. Let's go inside." He held his hand out to her. She grabbed his hand and leapt out of the car. "Well… let's get this done quickly." Without another word, she followed him into the building. They walked down several corridors and rooms before hitting a caged area in the back.

She waited as he bagged all the guns and ammo.

"Oh, there are working showers, if you think we have time to actually use one."

She would make time, no matter what. "Yes, point me in the right direction."

Stifling a smile he grabbed his bag and fresh clothes for both of them.

"Don't mind deputy's clothes, do you?" She shook her head.

"Clothes are clothes. I think I'll make a game of it. See how many different occupational uniforms I can find."

"I don't think that would be wise."

She rolled her eyes, and before explain she was joking, she spotted the showers just up ahead. She went to the first stall she saw and turned it on. Hot water poured through.

She couldn't help but laugh in sheer happiness. It has been so long since she could take a shower, and the smell proved it. Forgetting she was in the company of a man she barely knew, she stripped of her clothes and jumped in the shower. He followed suit, going into the shower several stalls down and they faced away from each other as they showered. Her smile never dimmed, especially once she found shampoo, conditioner, and a razor. She shook her head in amazement. To be able to shave her legs was enough to bring her spirits out of the ditch for days. They both showered quickly and dressed into fresh clothes.

Back on the road within the hour, she took over the wheel letting Rick sleep. Now that he was asleep, Alice felt alone again. It was a terrifying feeling and in that moment she realized how important it was that she found Rick. A complete mistake, but it had saved her life. They've been driving for a day and a half, and she had already been awake for two days straight.

She wiped the sweat from her cold forehead. There is no way she would be alive right now. …But then, neither would he. Or at least she guessed. Who knew, maybe he's got more luck than she.

They were able to siphon a bit of gas here and there, but now that had run dry.

"Shoot." Rick ran his hand through his hair. "I guess we're walking."

Alice chewed on her bottom lip. "This is not what I wanted to happen, but I guess we'll make the best of it.

Rick looked at the horizon, "At least the city is in view. It's probably an hour's walk until we get there."

"It might be less than that. Unless, of course, we run into a walker." She grabbed her supplies as he grabbed the guns and their food pack. Taking a deep breath, she started walking down the highway that led to Atlanta.

Alice furiously cursed herself. This was such a bad idea. Atlanta was overrun, that was a fact. She saw hordes of Walkers up ahead, and by the sound of them, they had heard them too.

"Rick, Rick! Oh shit, oh shit." She grabbed his shoulder, but had already started running.

"Hurry, Alice let's go!" She had no idea where he was headed, but she didn't want to separate. She followed, both running at back breaking speed down the road away from the horde. They were soon stopped when another wall of Undead blocked the way. Alice saw a bright yellow ladder that led up a building and dove for it.

"Rick, up here!" She shouted as loud as she could but after a few steps up the building she noticed he didn't follow.

She scanned the mob quickly, praying she saw him soon. He must of dove under the army tank, it was the only possibility of Rick surviving.

Deciding she couldn't see anything from that angle, and the Walkers were crowed only a few feet under her, she made the climb up several more levels.

Finally making it to the second highest level she shouted for him.

"RICK!" She rubbed her face in panic. "Oh, shit. Oh, shit."

"Who the hell are you?" A non-familiar voice heatedly whispered to her.

She spun around to see a blonde woman and a heavier Mexican.

"What?" She had completely forgotten the question.

The blonde brought out a pistol and pointed it at her.

"Who. The hell. Are you?" She said slowly and deliberately.

Irritated to her core, Alice replied "Alice Jipper, a manager at Burger King. Do you want to know my favorite color too?" Ignoring her once more she turned back to the last place she could think Rick would be.

Apparently the blonde didn't know what to do after that, because the Mexican spoke up.

"Are you… um, You lost someone down there?"

"Yes. Me and him escaped the hospital back a-ways. I ran one way, and he ran the other. I'm hoping he's in the tank."

"Then we can help. Come on." The man put his hand on Alice's shoulder. Seeing no other option, she turned and went with him.

"If we're going to help him, how is getting farther away from him going to help?" She was trying to stay calm. She had no idea who these people were and she had a bag of valuables. Antibiotics, luxury items, food, two guns, fishing gear, and other assorted things. She didn't want that stuff taken from her.

"Because, if he's in the tank, then he's near a radio. Glenn has one that should tap into his. Let me go get him and we'll get your friend out. Provided that he's alive and actually in there." The man went down the stairs leading away from the roof. The blonde gave her a cold stare.

"Why did you come here? All you've succeeded in doing is risking all of our lives." Andrea crossed her arms, and glared at Alice.

Alice just stared back at her. When it became apparent that Alice wasn't going to answer, and wasn't going to look away Andrea focused her attention back on her gun.

"Why should we save them?" An older white man asked. He had a sniper rifle tucked in his elbow, and a scowl on his face.

"Because that is what humans do for each other. Damn be the day that I leave people to die." The Mexican said harshly.

"Hey, are you alive in there?" Another man interrupted their arguing. He was crouched near the door, talking into a walkie-talkie.

Alice could hear her companion on the other end. She sighed in relief.

"There you are. You had your friend wondering."

He replied, it became evident he was panicking.

Over the static Rick asked Glenn if they can see him.

"Yea, I can see you. You're surrounded by Walkers. That's the bad news."

Alice perked up. There is good news?

Rick had the same question.

"No"

Alice pulls herself away to look over the edge of the roof.

_**Holy Shit…**_

Walkers were everywhere!

"We will pull a distraction and you will need to run." Glenn carefully explains the rest of his plan as one of the men pulled out a grenade. He pulled the stick and looked back to Glenn.

He continues to explain the plan, Alice too focused on the hordes and hordes of undead. After several minutes, someone pulls her back towards the stairs.

"Ok, get ready to run…" Glenn says over the radio.

Alice realized what they were going to do. By far one of the worse ideas she was ever going to witness.

He chucked the explosive, dashing back to the staircase. It hit thirty or so feet away from the building. A loud bang echoing the streets. The building groaned and shook, but seemed to hold its ground.

Most Walkers turned away from the tank and started running towards the noise.

"WE NEED TO GO, NOW!" The black man, they called T-Dog, shouted at her. She didn't waste time.

They all ran down the stairs, almost five flights before hitting the garage. When the door opened saw a truck, the back open with people in there, urging them to hurry. There were maybe five or six of them all together. One she noticed was Rick.

"Jesus you scared me!" She huddled down next to him. The truck lurched forward, the engine roaring as it sped down the street.

"I thought you were right behind me. I guess not."

They were interrupted by Glenn.

"Are you guys crazy? Just strolling into town?" He wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Alice didn't answer, but Rick did.

"We thought it was safe."

"You're a fucking dumbass. It is one of the most overrun places for miles. You didn't notice all the cars jammed up going in the opposite direction?"

Of course they did, but what choice did they have? Rick must of decided that answering wasn't going to convince him of any good in their mistake. The rest of the ride was in silence, or at least it was on the newcomers side. A man named 'Dixon' was harassing another man, 'T-Dog', quite a bit. Things began to get heated very quickly. Alice tried to huddle more in the corner, she knew violence is eminent.

"'The day you' what, Merle? 'The day you' what'?" T-Dog was inches from the man's face.

"The day I take orders from a nigger!" T-Dog swung instantaneously and clipped the side of his head, but in the darkness Dixon had the upper hand, he was fast. And before Alice realized who was winning, he had him on the floor, with a gun against his head.

The cabin erupted in screams and yells. The driver halted the van to investigate what all the yelling was about. Someone fired into the ceiling. As fast as it started, it seemed to have ended.

"Man, put down the gun. It doesn't need to be like this."

"Let's have a vote!" Dixon yelled above the others, "This is a democracy, is it not? Who thinks I should be the leader?" He slowly points the gun at each head, then back to T-Dog. Unbelieving to Alice, everyone raised their hands. One by one. _**Really?**_

Crawling alongside the truck's edge, Rick had positioned himself behind Dixon, and brought the butt of his gun down on his head.

Dixon hit the ground hard, but shot his gun off in the process. Everyone scrambled and Alice had enough sense to grab T-Dog by the shoulders and yank hard, pulling him away from the struggle between Rick and Dixon.

The darkness hid most of the fight, but after the battering stopped, Alice saw that Dixon was face down with his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Are we going to play nice?" Rick asked him gently, with his knee placed between his shoulder blades.

"Fuck you." He tried to spit at him, but only successes in spitting a few inches away from his own face. Rick stood up and turned back to T-Dog.

"There are new rules in this world. There is no 'Democracy' there is no 'niggers' or 'inbred white trash' neither. There is white meat, and there is dark meat." He put Dixon's own gun to his head. "We succeed in pulling together, not apart."

"Fuck you twice."

Rick abandoned the argument, turning to the others, "This isn't my… team member. So I'll hand him off to you." Nobody moved for a whole minute, even after Rick handed T-Dog the key.

"Fuck you people! None of y`all have the guts to come near me. Even when I'm handcuffed by this control freak of a pig!" He thrashed about, then settled on pushing himself up into the sitting position. Finally, someone spoke up.

"Let's kick his ass out of the truck. Let him fend for himself." They turned to Dixon. "IF you're so tough, you'll be fine."

Dixon smiled cruelly. "Yea. Let's just do that, then. But you gotta untie me or it won't be fare."

"Really? You'll just hop out, and that's it?" The black woman obviously wasn't convinced. But they all knew it would be impossible to pass up if it was true.

"Yea. I'm tired of you dumbasses anyways."

"What about your brother?" Glenn asked.

"I ain't holding his hand forever. Sure, I'll be back for him eventually, but he'll be fine on his own for a bit."

Alice was having a hard time believing him, but it wasn't her place to argue. She doubted she even will still be with these people after they stop at their camp.

She continued to watch quietly as one of them un-cuffed Dixon. As soon as the restraints were off, he pulled out a hunting knife and swung it at them. This time the group was ready and began opening the back door, kicking Dixon out. He fell on his back, scrabbling to get back up.

"Floor it!"

Glenn ran to the front, jumped in the seat and pressed the petal to the floor.

"YOU SUMABITCH! STOP RIGHT NOW!" The truck roared off until Dixon was barley see-able. " YOU'LL ROT IN HELL!" Dixon's screams echoed into the background. They quickly shut the door, and sat in silence.

Alice was confounded by this. She wasn't sure if she should be afraid of the next crazy asshole in the group, or the fact they turned on him as quickly as he did.


	2. Always having to meet someone

After a drive that seemed like forever, they finally drove up to a little green alcove. There was a old RV, maybe from the 70's, parked closes to the entrance. She could see lots of people, a lot more than she ever expected, all doing chores. Some cooking, some cleaning, most doing laundry. She headed back towards the end of the truck and plopped down next to Rick.

"Well. We made it. This is the closest thing to what we were searching for in Atlanta."

Rick didn't budge from his spot, but at least smiled a bit.

"You know I'm leaving again. I have to find my wife and son."

She nodded, "Yea. I know. I will probably stay here, I didn't realize there were so many of them. This could actually work out. There so far up in the hills that walkers don't seem to get up here often." She paused a minute, letting him absorbed what she had said.

"I hope you find them Rick." The door opened and all the people poured out of the van. She could hear people's relief as one by one they found their other half. Her heart heavy, she and Rick sluggishly walking to the camp.

Alice slowly looked over every person. Most were hugging different members of the group she was in, except a mother and son. They stood a bit farther back from the others, the mother on her knees comforting the child. Rick suddenly made a gasping sob. Alice looked at him to see what was wrong and she saw it in his eyes. That was his wife and son… Rick just seemed to stand there, he lifted his hand as if to reach for them, then dropped it again. The boy had caught notice of him. The boy didn't waste a second, screaming out for his father and running towards him.

"Oh..oh my God." She barley heard him gasp out.

Alice smiled ear to ear, as she watched Rick run from the truck to the thin, boney woman. Like everyone else she seen in their camp, her bangs were plastered to her forehead, the sweat darkening her hair. The only one running faster than Rick was a young boy, a mini version of himself.

The boy flung himself into Rick's arms and they fell to the ground, crying. Almost as loud as they were was Andrea and what was possibly her sister. They hugged and squealed, as everyone around Alice was reunited.

She sat on the bumper, waiting for her turn to be included. For the first time since the apocalypse started, she felt shy.

"Get yo` ass over here, girl!" T-Dog shouted at her. Take a breath of air for courage, she stood and walked over.

She met one after another, every mother, son, daughter, sister, and so on. There was even a grandmother who had escaped with a family of three. Tears stung in the back of her eyes each time she saw the families together. This was more painful to be in than the overrun hospital.

Only a few people stuck out in her mind. Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, and Morales of course. They are the main ones who helped them escape. Out of the new campers, a man named Dale and Shane were the only ones that truly stuck in her mind. Shane's face was so distrusting when he met her. He was the only one that did not greet her with a smile or a hug. He insisted that he would be allowed to search her bag and clothes. He would have, if Rick hadn't told him no. Apparently they were friends or something.

After several minutes, people began calming down and returning to work. A woman named Carol brought her to a tent to sleep in for one night.

"The man who is sleeping in this tent is off on a hunting trip. Since it's a borrowed tent he's using, I'm sure it will be okay if you sleep in it." She gave her a timid smile. She had a light bruise under her left eye. Her hair cut short, almost shaved. Alice thanked her, and went inside. She was ready for some good sleep. Even if it was only early afternoon.

She snuggled up in the sleeping bag that was in there and rested her head on her arm. The tent smelled like burning wood, sweat, and a small hint of whiskey. It was a very masculine smell, and it made her toes curl. Turning her head towards the fluffy bag, she closed her eyes.

"Hey. Hey!" The tent shook a bit.

"Come on Alice, we're having dinner. I know you've got to be as hungry as I am." She recognized Rick voice through the thin fabric of the tent.

"Okay. I'll be out in a minute. Save me a seat by the fire." She replied hoarsely. Tying her hair back, she straighten her clothes and stepped out into the night.

It was easy to find the campfire, it's small glow illuminating the camper's faces.

As she approached, she heard Rick explaining to the others what happened to him.

"Disoriented… I guess that comes the closest." His wife and child were snuggled up close to him, his wife never turning away from his face.

Alice grabbed the plate that Dale had handed to her. Taking a seat between Shane and Glenn, she forced herself to eat slowly.

Rick continued as if she never walked up.

"Fear, confusion- all those things but…disoriented comes closest."

Dale, an older man spoke up.

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short."

Rick nodded his head in agreement. "I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else." He took a deep breath, "For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

"I would of wandered into one of them walkers if Alice hadn't taken the time to help me." He smiled in appreciation.

"I wouldn't leave someone behind. Besides, I think you've paid me back fully by helping me escape the hospital." She went back to chewing her food, getting the curious gazes off her. She then realized that Rick reminded her of someone. Ben… her older brother. She choked on the piece of food, her heart contracting. She had to get that thought out of her head immediately or she would break down in front of all these people.

"Are you okay?" Glenn smacked her back a few times.

"Yes, yes. For the love of God, stop." She playfully smacked his shoulder. "That hurts more than it helps." Glenn only shrugged his shoulders. A few laughs blended into the background.

A low crackle sound brought everyone attention to a smaller fire several feet away. Someone had thrown another log onto it. A heavier white man and the woman were sitting by it.

"Hey, Ed?" Shane spoke up. "You want to rethink that log"

Ed's face didn't look up. "It's cold, man." He said matter-of-factly.

"Cold don't change the rules, don't it?" Shane's eyes brightened. Almost like he enjoys asserting his authority.

Shane spoke loudly when there was no answer, "Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

Ed shrugged him off, "I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once."

Without hesitation, Shane stood and walked over to Ed's fire. He walked in front of Ed and leaned in.

"Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" He kept his gaze locked with him. His hands were twitching, like he was forcing himself not to clench them.

After a long moment, Ed spoke, "Go on. Pull that damn thing out." He looked pointedly at his wife. When she didn't move right away, He repeated the demand once more, only harsher.

She reacted to that, pulling the log out. Their daughter, whom she only noticed now, was sitting next to her mother, her eyes wide with fear.

The little girls eyes darted between Ed and Shane, seemingly unsure of who was more dangerous.

"Hey Carol, Sophia. How are y`all this evening?" Shane used his cop voice on them. Carol answered with a slightly defensive tone, "Fine. We're just fine." Sophia never looked back up.

Shane gave them a smile. "Okay, good. Good."

Carol softened a bit, "I'm sorry about the fire."

Shane shook his head. "No, no, no, no. No apology need. You ladies have a nice evening." He stood and walked past Ed

"Ed."

He walked slowly back to their fire.

"Did you guys give any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy when he hears his brother was left behind." Dale looked straight at T-Dog.

Alice let their conversation blur into the background as she ate the last bit of food. Whoever this 'Daryl' was, he wasn't here now, so she wasn't worried about it. Besides, she didn't do a damn thing to this man.

A few hours later, Alice crawled into the sleeping bag, once again burrowing her face into the cushions.

_**Hmm…I bet this is that guy's tent…**_


End file.
